And wheels. :-)

If they don't have wheels, they lift just enough to break contact or skids on grass they'll actually slide, then start their run to pick up momentum while gaining altitude.
The rotors on a helicopter are different from the propeller on a plane. Rotors are actually a rotary wing and forward (or any direction) momentum is a great help in getting airborne, safely. A vertical ascent is the least stable situation for a helicopter and subject to an array of possible disruptions. :worried:

No! Really? I guess that's why my pilot's licence isn't valid for rotorcraft. (It's also why the max hover altitude is below the operating ceiling.)

I once got to see the Miss Champion do that maneuver up close and personal at Pennridge Airport, before she retired to Oshkosh. Pretty remarkable considering an autogyro rotor isn't normally powered. But an PCA-2 has a clutch that lets them spin the rotor up in flat pitch, then pop the collective getting them high enough in the air to lean forward for airspeed to keep it autorotating.

http://www.eaa.org/communications/ea...4_pitcairn.jpg

In fact a propeller is a rotary wing too..but its lift is used as thrust, so retreating blade stall isn't a limit on airspeed. Which is why the Osprey swings both ways, of course.

Does that count under "don't ask, don't tell?"

Maggie, have you been to the helicopter museum in West Chester? They have a bunch of nice pieces including auto-gyros. :thumbsup:

Auto Gyro
 

Actually no, and I should. Ironically enough at one point at few years back I was taking flight training at the adjacent airport, but the flights were always at night.

I understand they do have an Ospery there...:-)

Yeah, the V-22 dedication was how I ended up there. I was pleasantly surprised how much stuff they have. They even had a couple early, military, one man hovercrafts. :thumb: